WASHINGTON In December, President Barack Obama ended trade benefits with Gambia after Africa's smallest country approved a law that called for life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality" and its autocratic ruler referred to gays as "vermins."
It's a...

State Sen. Daniel Biss appears to be the first Democrat to actively float his name for the 2016 special election for state comptroller.
The Evanston Democrat is known as a policy wonk around the statehouse, but he's also a prodigious fundraiser,...

Boosting tax credits for the working poor emerged as one area of common ground as administration officials testified Tuesday on President Barack Obama's budget for 2016.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who agrees with Obama...

House Democrats gathered at a strategy retreat this week in dire need of a pep talk, after seeing their influence sharply reduced by last year's election and enduring a number of internal debates that eroded morale.
They got one from President Obama,...

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President Obama sought to transfer some swagger to a deflated group of Democrats on Thursday, saying the American people would respond if the party made a forceful case for what it stands for.
Addressing the thinned-out ranks of House Democrats after an election that reduced their numbers to a nearly 70-year low, Obama said he accepted some of the blame for November losses. But he also suggested that some candidates' efforts to distance themselves from their, and his, record played a role.
"We need to...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Tom Wolf will be among the guests speaking to fellow Democrats in Philadelphia this week as House Democrats hold a policy retreat in the city.
Members of the House Democratic caucus met Wednesday at the Sheraton in Society Hill to develop a policy and political strategy for the next two years amid diminished numbers in Congress.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Wolf, whose win was one of the Democrats' few bright spots...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has an explanation for the singular nature of her power.
"I'll always be an outsider. That's how I understand the world," the Massachusetts Democrat said in an interview. "There's a real benefit to being clear about this. I know why I'm here. I think about this every morning before I open my eyes, and I'm still thinking about it every night when I go to sleep."
Being the target of that kind of focus can be an excruciating experience — the freshest case in point being...

As Gov. Rick Scott beckons residents of other states to move to Florida, touting a growth in jobs and lower taxes, he ignores the fact that nearly half of those already living in the Sunshine State are barely making ends meet.
That's because jobs here pay wages so low that 45 percent of Florida households, according to a recent study, struggle to pay for basic necessities such as housing, food, health care, transportation and child care.
"Low-income jobs," says the Rutgers University report...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. finished its best year of job growth since 1999 with brisk hiring and a drop in unemployment last month, but there's little indication that workers will start seeing wages go up much any time soon.
Employers, led by professional services and the construction industry, added a solid 252,000 net new jobs last month, the government said Friday. The report showed that the U.S. remains unfazed by weakness in the global economy, notably Europe and Japan.
The nation's unemployment...

Labor notched some big wins last year in its efforts to beef up its ranks. Organizers vow to continue that push this year on signature items such as raising the minimum wage, but business groups are equally adamant about pushing back.
Also on the horizon: Talks between the United Auto Workers and U.S. automakers are expected to begin in mid-2015, with the union vowing to bridge the gap between top-paid and lower-paid workers. The negotiations would affect the 4,300 employees at Chrysler's assembly plant...